Snyder replaces 2nd appointee to Mackinac Straits panel

December 17, 2018

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A second member has resigned from a state panel recently established to oversee construction of a proposed oil pipeline tunnel beneath the waterway linking Lakes Huron and Michigan.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s office said Monday that Mike Zimmer had stepped down after being named last week to the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority.

Zimmer is Snyder’s cabinet director and was a member of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, from which he resigned to join the new straits corridor authority. Snyder spokesman Ari Adler said it was determined that the move raised a “possible legal conflict.”

Zimmer’s replacement is Michael Nystrom, a Republican and executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association.

Last week, Geno Alessandrini resigned from the corridor authority shortly after his appointment and was replaced by J.R. Richardson.